Mission Possible? LEED Certified Homes for $100K

A team of Philadelphia-based green building visionaries have joined efforts to build a LEED certified home for $100K. After experiencing frustration at the lack of available modern, green, affordable homes, developer Postgreen, Interface Studio Architects and building company Level 5 Construction have set out to construct a 1,000 sq ft home for $100 per sq foot, and get it LEED certified.

The100K House Project was started back in the fall of 2007 with two urban infill lots in East Kensington in Philadelphia. Their blog posts detail the process as they build out these homes, and include pictures, floorplans, LEED checklists, builder spec plans and even a construction budget. It’s a shame no one got the rights for a reality TV show for this, but the project team is diligently documenting the progress online.

As one intent of the 100K House Project is to get LEED certified, many green features will be incorporated into the project. Some of these features include, solar thermal hot water, rainwater collection, low-flow fixtures, radiant in floor heating, passive air conditioning, ERV and dehumidifier, efficient lighting, SIP construction, low VOC finishes, and drought tolerant landscaping that is 100% permeable.

These homes will be for sale once they break ground and the expected asking price will be around $200 – $250K. These houses are an attempt to meet the demand of average income consumers dreaming of a modern yet healthy and sustainable home. The team has placed a high priority on modern architectural design and cost effective green building. In order to build an affordable home, the focus is on providing the best building envelope and mechanical design rather than on high-end finishes.

15 thoughts on “Mission Possible? LEED Certified Homes for $100K”

Seems as if it’s finally intending to get warm again ... It truly was obviously a wild winter this year on county. Is seems that spring time won’t come subsequently... Awaiting summer time months ahead !

As a licensed contractor and construction consulting professional I am always amazed at how otherwise very intelligent people have no concept of risk/reward and the development time and cost associated with getting a dream/idea/concept/plan/project from A to Z. "Why the cost increase from $100K to a sales price of $200-250K?" Well, the hundreds or thousands of hours invested up front away from family, friends and healthful recreation must be worth something! More specifically, these inventors have real costs and usually fork over their hard earned savings while there is no income from a speculative venture. In addition to land cost, and construction cost, they have had the permits, city fees, plan reproduction cost, and survey costs and inspection costs and still after these direct costs probably make only a 10-20% before tax profit (maybe it is tax exempt). In the end they need a bit of cash left over to start their next wonderful plan and program. Hats off to this group of astute architects, engineers, designers and business people for taking the risk. CONGRATULATIONS - VERY IMPRESSIVE INDEED.

For clarification, the sale price of the houses is $200-250K because it includes the cost of the lot and a little extra for the team involved. I believe the blog says they bought each lot for around $100K.

Well done! The exterior can be worked still I suppose, looks like a 30\\\\\\\\\\\\\\\'s bauhaus project. But WHY it will cost 200-250K? when the whole idea was 100K? is that the land cost? Or just a amrketing trick? Or maybe the same idea withh 100 USD laptop for African kids which first costed 300 and now sells for around 500.

leafpure - The $100K only covers the hard construction costs. We also need to cover the cost of the land and the many soft costs that go into developing in Philadelphia. Also, the corner house will cost more than $100K to build, so it will be sold closer to $250K...

They will be sold for 200-250 because they will have land under them, plus no one asked the builder not to make money on the project. I think it's a great idea, it's something I've been trying to accomplish for a while. Way to go!